DMEA: Port Harcourt refinery loading products daily

Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPCL) has revealed that part of its rehabilitated 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt Refining Complex (PHRC) at the Area 5 terminal is now ready to commence loading of around 200 trucks per day.

The comments come following allegations that the refinery had again halted production following its reinstatement last week – with the facility’s managing director Ibrahim Onoja denying the claims on December 1.

According to Nigerian news outlet This Day, claims of the refinery halting production again remain unfounded, with a tour of the facility given to journalists in Eleme, Rivers State, showcasing ongoing loadings at the plant’s loading bay with around 10 trucks waiting to deliver fuel at the time.

During the tour – led by Onoja – This Day noted that PHRC’s Area 5 process plant looked like it had seen extensive upgrades, with the refinery’s director saying the plant was “running and trucking out products”.

The plant’s Terminal Manager Molokwuu Joel added to this, remarking that the refinery was able to load and send out three 45,000-litre tankers in less than 15 minutes. He continued to clarify: “Out of the three loading bays, each one has the capacity of loading three trucks in 15 minutes. A truck is 45,000 litres minimum. We have the ones of 60,000 litres. Already, we have loaded more than 10 trucks. So, before the close of work today [December 1], just in the next one hour, we are going to evacuate minimum of 15 trucks”.

The official also highlighted that surplus products were available, with numerous petroleum marketers already having been in contact regarding access to the facility’s products.

Despite this, there seems to have been some issues regarding obtaining the necessary trucks for evacuation.

“We have our loading arms operational and we have been begging them (petroleum marketers) to come in since yesterday but because today is weekend that is why they have not turned up. If you give us 100 trucks today we will evacuate them in less than 5 hours,” Molokwuu said, adding: “It is not our problem if there are no loading trucks, it is the tanker drivers’ problem. We have been begging them since yesterday to come around and take the products but they didn’t turn up, it was just this morning after pleading with them that they came”.

Also confirming the plant was up and running was the National President of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) Tony Ogbuigwe, who said in an interview with Arise News that despite not being fully on stream yet, the NNPCL was “working hard” to increase production at the refinery.

“The truth of the matter is that the Port Harcourt refinery, the area 5 of Port-Harcourt refinery is running…The old refinery is the one that has been brought back into operation. It is running, we can confirm that it is running,” he said.

Ogbuigwe was surprised to know that some had claimed the refinery had not seen loadings take place, and reminded those that were sceptical of any progress that the plant would ramp up production in stages.

Executive Director of Operations at the Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company Limited (NPSC) noted that operations at a reduced scale did not mean that all work had stopped, pointing out that less loadings needed to take due to ongoing upgrades.

“We are evacuating the refined products from the refinery, and this is obviously going to be a continuous process,” he said, concluding: “Operations were not halted. It was obviously reduced due to some improvements that we needed to make. We are managing the process with the number of trucks available today, using a few loading arms for evacuation. This should be resolved soon”.

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